The Path to Redemption
by Peach Wookiee
Summary: Alternate timeline. Zane makes a different choice in Episode 65. What are the effects? A prequel, of sorts, to "A Guy's Worst Nightmare" and "Summer Love, Summer Fears." Chapter 9 up! COMPLETE! Thank you for your support, everyone!
1. To Lose With Honor

Chapter I: To Lose With Honor

_Welcome, everyone, to another tale tied into the Yugi-verse that 15animefreak and I have woven. In "A Guy's Worst Nightmare," Zane Truesdale is back at Duel Academy, but why is he there? Perhaps it's time to tell that tale. It is a story of an alternate choice, where a young man chose not to follow the path of power, but the path that questioning oneself leads you to. And the first question he asks himself is, "Is it better to win by any means necessary or to lose with honor?"And so, I open "The Path to Redemption." Enjoy!_

_Author's note: This story starts toward the end of Episode 65, "No Pain, No Game" in the dub. That episode was where Hell Kaiser made his appearance in Zane's psyche._

_**Disclaimer: Peach Wookiee DOESN'T own the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise. She does love dabbling in alternate timelines.**_

_I'm going to lose…_Zane Brian Truesdale was used to losing. He had had a great run in the Pro Leagues as an undefeated duelist. Undefeated, that is, until eleven duels ago when Aster Phoenix had beaten him. And since that duel, he had lost ten duels in a row. His manager had abandoned him and his sponsors had as well. And then a dark figure named Shroud had offered to manage Zane's career and resurrect his dueling to its former glory and then some. What the dark-haired gray-eyed duelist hadn't expected was what he was doing now. Zane was in an underground duel wearing shock collars and was trapped in a steel cage with his opponent.

"You are going to lose, Zane, and when I'm done with you, you will not be able to stand," the large man, Mad Dog, said in a voice that belied his size. He sounded for all the world like a child, but the fallen pro-duelist and former Duel Academy student knew that this man was mad and dangerous. Zane could also sense his new manager behind him, a force of sheer malevolence, grinning like Satan.

"You can win, Zane, but you have to accept what you have learned here, that dueling is all about power and no one matters but you!" the manager said, sounding like a corrupt southern sheriff. "You want to win!"

_Of course I want to win,_ Zane thought, and then, something hit him with the force of a hurricane. _But do I want to win this way?_ He looked at his opponent, back at his manager and at the crowd of people wearing masks, concealing their identities because they didn't want to get caught being here. _What have I become? What will I become if I choose this life, this way? What could I do?_ "No…not this way…Mad Dog…you've probably heard this from opponents when they're shrieking in pain, but you won't hear it from me in that way. I surrender. I may lose this duel, but I'd rather lose than win and lose my soul."

"You surrender?" Mad Dog and Shroud yelped in horror. The crowd gasped.

"Yeah…I'm done. And that means I'm out of this cage," Zane said calmly. The cage was unlocked and Zane and his opponent emerged.

"You ungrateful little snot!" Shroud shouted, furious. He grabbed the teen boy by the shoulders and shook him. "HOW COULD YOU THROW AWAY ALL I'VE GIVEN YOU! I GAVE YOU THE CHANCE TO BECOME GREAT AGAIN AND YOU JUST THREW IT ALL AWAY! YOU'VE LOST EVERYTHING!" Shroud slapped him, but insanely, Zane didn't feel the blow.

"I haven't lost everything," the Kaiser of Duel Academy said. "I still have some very important things. I have my soul and my honor."

"Your honor?" Shroud scoffed. "You honestly think that's worth something?"

"Yes…more than you will ever know." And with that, Zane walked out into the night. He may not have won the duel, but he felt he'd won something far more precious. But what happened next would not be easy.

_And that concludes chapter one of "The Path to Redemption." I hope you all consider this a story worth continuing! Please read and review. Thank you!_


	2. Coming Home

Chapter II: Coming Home

_Welcome back to "The Path to Redemption." I'm glad you're all enjoying this tale so far. I know you're wondering why Zane had to surrender or lose, but it is necessary. He couldn't fall to temptation. Zane has chosen the hard path instead of the quick and easy path. For those of you who know Star Wars like I do, you'll know that to choose the quick path makes it easy for you to fall to the dark side. Zane fell to the dark side for a time in the series that we know, but he came back after a while. In this tale, he remains himself but a bit banged up. He might act a bit out of character; but I remind you all that this is a Zane that has made a difficult choice and has been shaken to his very core. And so I open another chapter. Enjoy!_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX…**_

After the duel, Zane quietly walked out of the underground dueling arena. He walked away from Mad Dog and from Shroud. He walked to the hotel where he'd been staying and packed up his things. He paid his bill and booked tickets on the next available flight to Domino. He then called his parents to be there when he arrived. Zane would have a couple of hours on the plane to think as to what he'd say, and then he could be at home for a bit and decide what his next step would be.

_I won't give up,_ he thought. _But I don't know what I'm going to do next. All I know is that I need Mom and Dad._ Of course, Darla and William Truesdale were happy that their eldest son was coming home, but of course they were worried about him. They had seen his defeat to Aster Phoenix and his subsequent defeats and heard that he was going to be put in the Amateurs again. They knew, as parents do, that Zane needed a soft place to fall where he felt safe.

And so, at 3 in the afternoon the day after Zane's fateful duel, the Pro League duelist arrived at the Domino International Airport. He got off the plane and headed to baggage claim. And when he arrived there, two people were waiting for him.

"Zane? Sweetie?" A middle-aged woman with aqua-blue hair and spectacles, the spitting image of her son, was standing beside a man who could be the older version of the pro-duelist. Darla moved to her son and hugged him tightly. "How are you, honey?"

"Hi, Mom," Zane managed and then felt his father's embrace as well. "Hi, Dad."

"Zane, kiddo, do you want to go somewhere for a snack or would you like to just go straight home?" Will asked.

"Dad…I think I'd just like to go home right now, okay?" Zane said softly. The parents released their son from the full hug and kept their arms around him as they left baggage claim and headed to their car. Zane climbed into the back seat and buckled up. It felt like a return to his childhood, albeit temporarily, where he wouldn't have to worry for a while. He was quiet all the way home. Will and Darla helped him take his bags up to his bedroom and Zane was alone in the room.

"What do I do now?" he asked himself. He looked around at his bedroom. The room was much as he had left it when he was home briefly this past summer before he went to the Pro Leagues. His room was decorated in shades of gray and blue with posters of his dueling heroes framed on the walls. He headed into his closet and reached up to the top shelf. There was something he needed, something that no one knew about and that nearly everyone would be shocked to know about. And he found it and took it down. "What do I do, Trina?" he asked his plush three-headed Cyber End Dragon. "I haven't cuddled you since before I went to the Himalayas with Chancellor Shepherd and…I just feel lost…I mean, I'm glad I chose what I did, but…now I don't know what I'm going to do…" He sighed, set Trina down and pulled off his old Academy uniform and pulled on some loose-fitting black pants and a white t-shirt. And then he lay down and took a nap, holding his plush dragon.

At six PM, Darla Truesdale came in to Zane's room to wake him. She smiled at the sight of him holding his plush, and then frowned slightly at the expression on his face. His dreams were obviously troubled and the lone female Truesdale hoped she could help her eldest son heal from whatever had happened. She sat down on the edge of the bed and brushed his bangs gently. "Zane…sweetheart, it's time to wake up…Zane, c'mon…" Zane slowly opened his gray eyes and sat up.

"Hey, Mom…" he said. "Thanks…" Darla put her arms around him.

"Sweetie, are you all right? You haven't had Trina with you in a long time…did you have a bad dream, Zane?" Her eyes were very gentle and compassionate and the boy hugged his mother back, choosing not to talk for a long moment. He might be a nearly-grown man, but he was not too grown up and never would be to find comfort in his mother's tender arms. He held onto her. He would not sob, but he did cry silently. "Oh, angel…" Darla whispered. "It's going to be okay, Zane. We'll get through whatever it is…"

"Mom…I'm scared…" Zane finally admitted. "That duel with Aster Phoenix…I'm afraid to duel now…I did something bad…or almost did when I was trying to pull myself together." And he told her of what had happened in that last duel and how he had chosen to surrender. "But…that wasn't when it all started…I started feeling weird after the Shadow Riders came."

Darla brushed his hair gently as she had when he was a little boy scared from his nightmares. "Chancellor Shepherd told us about what happened in your last semester, Zane, and Sy was upset, too when it all happened. He said he barely slept when you were in trouble and when his friend was. Honey, it's all right to have been frightened. And what was it that you almost did that was so bad?"

Zane took a deep breath. "Mom…I got a new manager for a little bit and he wanted me to become a duelist who had no respect for his opponents and would hurt them…Mom, I almost did it…But then I couldn't do it. I didn't want to win and lose who I was. I might do that for a while, but then I'd have to live with what I did after it was over."

Darla gently made him look in her eyes. "Zane…you made the right choice. You should never sell out who you are just to win a game…You are Zane Brian Truesdale and you are a good, sweet boy. Why don't we get some dinner and then you can just relax? Your father and I are just glad you're home safe." Zane smiled weakly.

"Thanks, Mom…" And together, they headed downstairs to where Zane's favorite dinner, his mom's chicken a la Darla with white rice was waiting. It was a quiet meal, one of several that followed over the next week. Zane had been initially strong, but now he was in a state of emotional letdown.

Will Truesdale decided to talk to his son nearly a week after the boy had come home. Will was an accountant at a prestigious Domino accounting firm and had the afternoon off today. "Zane…son, you've been sitting around the house for a week. Is there anything your mom and I can do to help you?"

Zane sighed. "Dad…I don't know what to do next. I felt good after I made my decision, but now…I just feel all gone…"

"What do you think you should do?" Will asked. "You can stay here as long as you need to, of course…"

"Dad…I think I need to go back to Duel Academy for a bit…at least until I clear my head…I'll make arrangements and head there in a couple of days…And then I can start dueling again…I hope anyway…" But Zane, truth to tell, wasn't sure of dueling ever again.

_And that is the end of chapter 2. Again, Zane seems a bit out of character, I know. When you suddenly find yourself adrift, though, you can act differently than you have for most of your life. And Zane, for now, is adrift. The career he chose seems out of reach and he feels lost and alone. I hope you still like this story, anyway! Please read and review. Until next time!_


	3. Preparation

Chapter III: Preparation

_Welcome back, everyone to the third chapter of "The Path to Redemption." Thanks to reviewers from both chapters, KisunaFuji, 15animefreak15, Agent of the Divine One, WhiteAsukaLover, Autumn-Angel-31, and syrusfanatic12 as always. I appreciate your suggestions, even if I'm not using them and I appreciate your reviews. If you haven't reviewed before, feel free, even if it's to disagree with what I'm doing._

_Last time, Zane made his way home and found a soft place to fall with his parents. He decided to return to Duel Academy to refocus and pull himself back together. But how will his friends and his brother feel about that? You'll just have to read and find out!_

_**Disclaimer: Peach Wookiee doesn't own the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise. Further, she also doesn't own the characters Violet Haverbrook and Rosa Jimenez. They are the intellectual and creative property of 15animefreak15 who granted me permission to use them for this story as it occurs in the Yugi-verse created in "A Guy's Worst Nightmare."**_

"ATTENTION SYRUS TRUESDALE! PLEASE REPORT TO THE CHANCELLOR'S OFFICE IMMEDIATELY!" rang over the school's PA system. Syrus Truesdale, standing outside in the school common area shivered like a rabbit, as he heard Chancellor Crowler's voice over the loudspeaker.

"Oh, man…Jay, what did I do? I didn't do anything!" he said to his best friend, Jaden Yuki. Syrus was a small boy of sixteen years old, though he looked somewhat younger because he was short, had fluffy aqua blue hair, big gray eyes and wore spectacles. He was in the middle-ranked Ra dorms, which meant he wore a golden yellow blazer. His friend, Jaden was taller with brown hair with a red shock at the top and big brown eyes. He also wore the red blazer of the Slifer dorms, which meant he should be a lousy duelist and student. However, Jaden was considered the best duelist in school.

"Well, if you didn't do anything, then you have nothing to worry about!" Jaden said cheerfully. "Maybe he's giving you a prize!"

"For what? I haven't done anything or entered a contest!" Sy yelped.

"Maybe it's an award where you didn't have to enter yourself," Jaden countered happily. "It's okay, Sy…and I'm coming with you, okay?"

Sy nodded. "Thanks, Jay…" And they headed to the figurative lion's den, both slightly apprehensive.

"Thank you for coming, Syrus," Vellian Crowler greeted as the boys made their way into his office. "Jaden, why are you here?" Vellian Crowler was a strange-looking man who wore his long blonde hair in a ponytail, wore earrings and a dark blue jacket with pink ruffles and appeared to wear make-up. That last was a rumor and had yet to be confirmed.

"Moral support, teach…Is Sy in trouble?" Jaden asked, prepared to defend his surrogate brother especially if it was something Sy was blamed for that Jaden did.

"A-am I?" Sy asked, shivering nervously.

"No," Crowler answered, shaking his head. "He has a call from home. You can use the video phone, Syrus."

Sy nodded. "Um…thank you, Chancellor Crowler." Sy went and sat down on the couch and the teacher turned on the video screen.

"Hi, sweetie," Darla Truesdale greeted her youngest child.

"Hey, Mom!" Sy said happily. "I'm glad you called. How is everything? Is everything okay?"

"Sy…honey, I called because Zane is planning to come out to the Academy in a couple of days. Is that all right?"

"Um, sure. How come?" he asked, noticing the worry on her face. "Is he okay?"

"Honey…" Darla took a deep breath in an attempt to collect her thoughts. "Syrus…he came home pretty upset."

"Mom…Zane doesn't get upset," Sy said, puzzled.

"Yes, he does, Sy. He just doesn't show it much. I don't know why, sweetheart, but he doesn't show what he's feeling. But he is upset and I think the reason he's coming out to the academy is that he needs his brother and his friends. He can stay in any dorm he wants…"

"He can stay in my room, Mom," Sy offered, not sure what to do for his brother but knowing that offering his room would be a good start.

Darla smiled. "Honey, just be there for him, okay?" Then, a little more gently, "Syrus, I know he's acted like he doesn't need you, but he does. Please, I know this is upsetting and scary, but I know you can help him too. Okay, sweetie?"

Sy swallowed. _What can I do? I'm just…me…_ But as he had so many times in his life, Syrus Aidan Truesdale answered, "Okay, Mom. I love you."

"Love you too, sweetie. I'll email you, all right?"

"Okay. Bye, Mom." They hung up and Chancellor Crowler escorted the boys out of the office.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," Jaden said cheerfully as he and Sy walked away from the office. "You're not in trouble and Zane's coming back."

"Y-yeah. Great," Syrus sighed. He was surprised to see a group of kids at the front doors of the Academy. Alexis Rhodes, an Obelisk Blue girl with blonde hair and hazel-brown eyes, her brother, Atticus, also an Obelisk Blue with brown hair and dark brown eyes were waiting. So were Chazz Princeton, a boy wearing a black outfit to match his dark, unruly hair and stormy gray eyes, Bastion Misawa, a gray-eyed and strangely grayish haired boy who was in Ra Yellow and Tyranno Hassleberry, another Ra Yellow from Texas who wore a cutoff blazer, khaki cargo pants, military boots, and had a yellow dinosaur bandana over bleached white bangs and black dreadlocks. Finally, there were three other Obelisk Blue girls. The first was Violet Haverbrook, a girl with purple hair and green eyes and a bubbly, random personality. The second girl was Rosa Jimenez, a native Spaniard who had ruddy brown hair and big brown eyes. The third young lady was Annie Hanson, a rather large girl with dark brown hair and big blue eyes.

"Private Truesdale, what happened? Did General Crowler dress you down?" Hassleberry asked.

"Yes, Señor Syrus, did Señor Crowler become angry with tú?" Rosa added.

Annie moved close to Sy. "Sy, are you okay?" She hugged him, worried. "You didn't get suspended or expelled, did you?" Everyone looked at him fearfully, except for Jaden.

"No…but Zane's coming back. My mom called and Doctor Crowler let me use the video screen phone in his office. Zane…is coming here to figure things out."

"ALL RIGHT! PARTY!!" Atticus whooped. "We get to make up for lost time!" Atticus had missed most of his first year and what would've been his second year at the academy because he'd gone missing at the abandoned dorms. He and Zane had been best friends since they were babies and the idea of two lost years had made the fun-loving surfer boy ache.

"Atticus, he may not feel like having much fun," Alexis pointed seriously and with a bit of anger in her voice. She loved her big brother dearly, but sometimes he just plain annoyed her. "He's been through something and may not feel like partying. So you can just cool it…like now…"

"Okay, okay…geez…" Atticus groaned. "So when does he come, Little Blue?"

"Two days," Syrus answered, turning his gaze to the cement pathway.

"So, what's the problem?" Violet asked. "He comes here, we cheer him up, and he gets better and goes back to the pros a new man! That should be easy!" Annie face-faulted.

"Violet…it's not that simple…stuff like this isn't," the chubby Obelisk girl explained. "What happened to Zane in the Pro Leagues…well…it must've been bad…and we'll help you and him, Sy, okay?"

"I'll begin by looking through my books. I know I have some psychology books and I can speak with the school counselor. Perhaps she can be of assistance," Bastion said.

"I can get a trainin' regimen goin'," Hassleberry offered. "Lieutenant Truesdale's goin' to need to keep fit!"

"I can have some fun activities for him to do," Atticus added.

"I can…do something," Chazz added, not sure of what he could do.

"And I'll be ready if he wants to just talk," Alexis concluded. She'd talked with him a lot when she'd come to Duel Academy as a student. Sure, some people had thought there was a thing going on between them, but Zane had promised Atticus that he, Zane, would take care of Alexis like a big brother should. _Now, _Alexis reflected, _it's my turn to help Zane…if I can._

"Yeah, bro…we're going to help you through this," Jaden reiterated, putting a hand on Sy's shoulder. "Sy, you won't go through it alone and neither will Zane."

Sy gave his group of friends a weak smile. "Thanks, guys…" _I can't do anything, though…How can I help Zane if I can't help myself?_ The bluenette sighed sadly. However long that Zane was going to be here, it was going to be difficult.

_And that's where I must conclude for now, everyone. Terribly sorry that it took several days to get this up and running. I hope you will do the honor of reviewing this chapter as well. I love your reviews and I also love talking to you if you PM or IM me!_


	4. Arrival

Chapter IV: Arrival

_Welcome back to "The Path To Redemption." I'm terribly sorry for the wait but it took a while to get the right part figured out for Zane arriving at the academy. I also had a couple of other things on my mental burner and needed to get them sorted as well. Thank you for your reviews and your patience. Good or bad, I love to hear your reviews, and I also appreciate your suggestions, even if I choose not to use them. _

_Recap: Syrus Truesdale knows his brother is coming and his friends know, too. They're all eager to help, even if they don't know what to do. And so, everyone is preparing for the Kaiser of Obelisk Blue to return to Duel Academy._

_**Disclaimer: Peach Wookiee does not own the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise. She also does not own the characters, Violet Haverbrook or Rosa Jimenez. She does, however, own Annie Hanson.**_

_Author's note: In this version of the Yugi-verse, Chazz turned Sartorius down, choosing to be his own person and duel Jaden on his own terms._

The next two days at Duel Academy were days of preparation. Most of the Obelisk Blue students were thrilled that their top student, Zane Truesdale, the Kaiser, their king was returning. But for one group of four Obelisk girls, one Obelisk boy, three Ra Yellow boys and two Slifer Red boys, their emotions were of excitement, apprehension and concern. They were excited because Zane was their friend and they were glad to see him; they were apprehensive and concerned because they didn't know what they were going to do when the former Obelisk Blue boy arrived. They were all out on the grass at what was well known as Jaden's tree, eating a picnic lunch.

"So where's he staying?" Jaden asked curiously, munching on fried shrimp. "He could stay in Slifer Red, if he wants. We'd be glad to let him crash with us."

"He's also welcome back in Obelisk Blue. He can bunk with me!" Atticus offered cheerfully, snacking on his sandwich. "He is an Obelisk after all…"

Syrus said, "He might stay in Ra with me…but he might not want to. It's kind of a step down." He sighed. 'I'll never be as good as Zane was here…and what can I do to help him?' he thought as he ate some fried shrimp.

"Why would it be a step down?" Bastion queried, enjoying Miss Dorothy's filled rice balls. "Especially if he's with you and no longer a student?"

Syrus sighed. "I'm a Ra Yellow, Bastion. I've always been weaker than him. Oh, man…"

Annie Hanson looked up at Syrus from her peanut butter and raspberry jelly sandwich. "Sy, you're not weak! You're just as strong as your brother is and he needs you. And we're all 

going to help you." She and Bastion were poring through psychology textbooks, trying to determine the best way to help Zane.

"Yes…we're helping," Bastion said. "Doctor Annie, your diagnosis?" he asked with a grin.

"Bastion, she's not a doctor," Violet said literally.

"No, but she may be a doctor someday, Senorita Violet," Rosa pointed out. "Well?"

"Bastion and I both think Zane has a form of depression called Adjustment Disorder. It's because of what happened with Aster Phoenix and then what kept happening after that. He's not used to losing so it was a bad shock when he couldn't pick himself up afterward. This kind of depression happens when people have changes in their lives that might seem minor to other people that are pretty big to the people the changes happen to. We've talked to the school counselor and he agrees with us that it's a possibility. He says the thing we can do is try to cheer Zane up however we can and let him know that we're with him, no matter what," she finished.

"Thank you, Annie. So does anyone have any ideas about how to cheer him up once he gets here?" Bastion asked the assembly.

Alexis raised her hand first. "I'll see if he'll talk with me like he used to when he was a student here. I know everybody knows we went down to the lighthouse and talked at the end of the day. He wanted to make sure I was okay, and…sometimes, when you were still gone, Atticus, I pretended I was telling you things about the day and you were telling me what happened to you."

Atticus smiled sadly. "I missed so much of that, sis…"

The Queen of Obelisk Blue sighed. "Atticus, that wasn't your fault and I have you back now. Since you missed most of your school experience, we get to go through it together. I'm glad I had Zane while you were missing, though. It wasn't the same, but it helped. Now he needs me to help him…"

"And I may not have met Lieutenant Truesdale personally, but I've got my trainin' regimen ready when he's ready!" Hassleberry said, holding up a small three-ring binder with a clearly thought-out exercise plan. "Lots of fresh air, sunshine, getting the blood moving; it'll be good for the soldier just to relax!"

"I'll add to that and take him out surfing!" Atticus added cheerfully. "He hasn't done it before, but I can teach him. I've also got a list of movies he might like! Thanks Syrus!"

"Um…no problem…" Sy said softly.

"And I'm cooking some treats for him!" Violet, an aspiring master chef, added brightly. "I hope he likes caramel corn!"

"That'll be excellent, Violet," Bastion said. "You make excellent things and I'm certain he'll enjoy them."

"Um…don't make anything with oranges in it, okay?" Sy advised. "Zane's allergic…"

"So…no orange sorbet…got it," Violet said clearly, giving Sy the victory/peace sign with a smile.

"I can talk to him about when I couldn't see my cards after my duel with Aster. I know that scared the heck out of me," Jaden admitted.

"And I guess I can tell him how I…um…felt when I stood up to Sartorius," Chazz said, not exactly eager to share his feelings, but knowing it was something he could do.

"And I am working on organizing a fiesta if Senor Zane is up to it later," Rosa offered.

"All right. Annie, do you have those written down?" Bastion asked. She nodded. "Excellent. So we have a plan now and I assume your room is ready, Syrus."

Sy sighed and nodded. "Yeah…it's ready. I just don't know what I can do for him. I mean…" He trailed off, really not sure what to say right now. 'He doesn't need me…he never does. I'll probably just make things worse,' he thought.

Jaden caught his surrogate brother's expression and moved to lay his hand on Sy's shoulder. "Sy, sometimes all you can do is be there to help the person you care about. Hey, when I couldn't see my cards, you just being there was huge. I knew you were there to help me even if you couldn't change what happened. You let me know you'd be there to just make me feel better. And that was what I needed the most." He gave the blue-haired boy a reassuring smile and just sat down next to him.

Annie too sat down close to Syrus. She had felt an attraction to the younger Truesdale since their first day of classes and she'd nursed that feeling ever since. She guessed he felt the same way, but wasn't sure as they were both fairly shy at some points, particularly when it came to possible romance. "S-Sy…what Jaden said…he's right. Zane just needs you here, even if there's not much you can do. We're all doing what we can and what it may just come down to is you just saying, 'Zane, win or lose, you're my brother and I love you whatever you decide to do.'"

"Thanks, everybody," Sy said softly. "He's going to be here about 7 on the last ferry of the day. It'll be about sunset and Chancellor Shepherd already said he'd keep everyone but us away so he isn't mobbed with people. Zane just wants to come here quietly and get himself back together. He doesn't 'need a bunch of crazed academy fan girls' driving him insane right now. He just said he wanted to be able to chill for a bit."

"We'll make it happen or there will be some Obelisk girls that will regret messing with him," Alexis said stonily while the other three Obelisk girls nodded in agreement.

"I'll tell them that anyone who messes with Zane will be tied up and forced to watch Barney the Dinosaur," Annie said menacingly…well, menacingly for her, anyway. Everyone sweat-dropped, except for Violet.

Violet grinned maniacally. "I'll get the rope!"

"Uh, Private Annie, Private Violet, I think that's a violation of the Geneva Convention," Hassleberry said in shock.

"Well, personally, I hope you don't have to use it," Syrus added, a little bit nervous at his female friend's expression. "That dinosaur always scared me when I was little. His eyes never blinked and his lips never moved right. And don't get me started on Bee-jay and Baby Bop!" he shivered.

Bastion looked at Sy. "You're afraid of a purple dinosaur?" he asked, stunned, but not mockingly.

"And you're not afraid of something, Bastion?" Jaden asked curiously.

"Er…no…" he answered, but the group knew he was lying.

"B plus in chemistry," Chazz said.

"What?!" Bastion yelped.

Chazz looked at him, shocked. "Lucky guess…and you're actually afraid of that?" Bastion's slight flush said it for him.

YGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGO

At 7 that evening, a group of ten teenagers waited as passengers got off of the huge boat. A few upperclassmen, fresh from a day in Domino for shopping got off, all in uniform. And finally, a young man with dark hair and seemingly bluish highlights stepped off the gangplank, dressed simply in a pair of dark jeans and a blue Duel Academy sweatshirt. "All right, everybody, signs up!" Jaden said cheerfully. The group held up signs that said "Welcome Back, Zane," and Sy held up his sign that said, "I love you, Big Brother! You're still a winner to me!"

He made his way toward the group, bags in hand. "Hey, everybody," he said as he came up to them with a slightly sad smile.

"Welcome back, Zane! We're glad to have you here and we've got lots of fun stuff for you to do!" Jaden said excitedly.

"And we can help you get back together, pal," Atticus added with happiness, but sobered when he saw his friend's face. Zane looked…diminished, for lack of a better word.

"I'm not ready…maybe tomorrow. Right now, I'd just like to go get some dinner and some sleep. Syrus, is it all right if I stay in your room?" he asked.

Sy looked at him in surprise. "Y-you want to stay with me, bro? I mean…I'm in Ra…"

"You're my brother, and…I think I need to stay with you right now. Okay, Sy?" Zane said softly.

Sy nodded. "Okay, big brother…" The group of eleven teens strode up the hill and to the Ra dorms where Zane got a simple dinner with the group and then went to bed at 8:30. Syrus sighed as he stayed out with his friends.

"You okay, Syrus?" Annie asked softly.

"Yeah…I just hope I can help him," he answered.

"Sy…you will," Jaden smiled. "I know you will…"

"Thanks, Annie. Thanks, Jay." 'I just hope you're both right…' Sy thought, very worried for his brother who was acting very much like a lost soul.

_There…finally done with the fourth chapter, folks! Zane is feeling very much lost at this point and Sy is worried he can't do much to help his brother. His friends have a plan, but will those plans work? Will Zane make it back to himself thanks to their efforts? Or will it take something else? Tune in next time, and as always, please read and review!_


	5. Silence

Chapter V: Silence

_Welcome back, GX fans, to another installment of "The Path to Redemption." Zane is going through some definite growing pains and he doesn't seem entirely himself, does he? He has gone through major emotional upheaval and it's going to take a lot to pull him out of it. I thank all of you for your reviews and am glad if you're enjoying this tale. _

_To recap, Sy and all of his friends have been figuring out how best to help his brother recover from what happened. They know only what they've been told and have researched to help the pro duelist regain himself. Zane has returned to Duel Academy a broken man and no one knows what will happen next._

_**Disclaimer: Peach Wookiee doesn't own the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise. She does, however, own Annie Hanson and this idea. Violet Haverbrook and Rosa Jimenez are the property of 15animefreak15. Also, Jaden's and Hassleberry's lines about the time Zane is waking up was taken from "Good Morning, Vietnam" and the great comedian Robin Williams. And a special thanks to Hermione494 for her consultation on Hassleberry's jogging song and toKeybladeAngel34 for her assistance on the Michael Jackson joke!**_

_Author's note: Since Dr. Crowler was "in command" of Duel Academy during part of the second season, I thought it might be appropriate that a jogging chant have some mention of him. I rather like Dr. Crowler, so this is all in good fun. There's also G-rated poking fun at Michael Jackson._

The morning after his return, Zane Truesdale was awakened with a cheerful "Good morning, Lieutenant Truesdale! It's 0600 and it's time to get up and enjoy your mornin' calisthenics!" Tyranno Hassleberry was in the room with a tired-looking but ready Syrus standing next to him, along with Jaden Yuki, grinning sheepishly.

The pro duelist sat up, his hair sticking up every which way. "Excuse me?" he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "What time is it?"

"0600," Hassleberry said cheerfully.

"The O stands for 'Oh my gosh, it's early!'" Jaden added. "C'mon, Zane! We do this every morning! Hassleberry's a great physical trainer!"

"Oh, Lord…" Zane groaned. "All right; let me get some pants on, all right?"

"Zane, here," Syrus said, holding a pair of Zane's gray athletic shorts and a clean gray t-shirt. "I got this out for you. C'mon, big brother, let's go out for a jog."

Zane sighed and got his clothes on while the other guys stepped out of the room. 'Why they're waking me up this early…probably trying to help. I'll just do it.' As soon as his pants and top were on, he pulled on a pair of socks and sneakers. "All right… let's do this," he sighed when he headed out the door to meet the other boys.

"Good morning, Zane. Welcome to our impromptu jogging club," Bastion said seriously but with a smile on his face. "Or should I say our boot camp? Hassleberry does a rather thorough job of this, doesn't he?" Each of the other boys were dressed in their academy gym clothes except for Hassleberry who was wearing his uniform already.

"You might say that," Zane groaned.

"All right, soldiers, ten hut! Let's get goin' if we want to get our jog done before 0700!" the Ra Yellow dinosaur duelist ordered. And with that, they went for a run around the island. They also did a running chant as they went, per US Army tradition. Hassleberry sang out, "I don't know but I just think…"

"_I don't know but I just think!_" the other guys except for Zane echoed.

"Crowler's ruffles are mighty pink!"

_"Crowler's ruffles are mighty pink!"_

"Well, Crowler has some bony knees!"

"_Well, Crowler has some bony knees!"_

"But he's the one that we must please!"

_"But he's the one that we must please!"_

"Sound off!"

"_ONE TWO!"_

"Count off!"

_"THREE FOUR!"_

"Sound off, count off!"

_"ONE TWO THREE FOUR!"_

They jogged and made it back to the Ra Yellow dorms at 6:45. "Nice job, troops! Sarge, I think that was your best time ever! Yours too, Private Truesdale," Hassleberry complimented Jaden and Syrus. "Private Misawa, I can never find fault with you! And Lieutenant Truesdale, thank you for joinin' us," he added.

"Thank you, Hassleberry," Bastion said.

Zane, however, nodded curtly. "If you'll excuse me, I'm heading to take my shower." He turned on his heel and headed back into the dorms to shower. It wasn't that he didn't like the jog; he just didn't see the point of doing it.

"He wasn't into it, guys," Syrus observed sadly, watching his brother's retreating back. "Thanks, Hassleberry."

"We'll keep it up, Private, don't you worry," Hassleberry said easily.

Jaden moved and patted his best friend on the back. "Sy, I'll try talking to him or at least let him know he can talk to me about stuff. We'll keep trying things until Zane gets feeling better."

Syrus gave his best friend and his other friends a sad smile. "Thanks, Jay. Thanks, guys."

"We're not knackered yet," Bastion added. "I'll see if taking him to one of my classes might perk him up. I believe we're having a discussion on probability of victory with certain monsters in Quantum Mechanics for Duelists. Perhaps he'd enjoy that."

"Maybe…" Syrus said, smiling hopefully.

And so, Zane found himself going to class with Bastion Misawa. It was a long and complicated lecture about the mathematical probability of how certain monsters could win a duel 90 percent of the time. _But what this teacher doesn't mention is that some probabilities are unpredictable,_ he thought. Unbidden, the image of Destiny Hero Dreadmaster looming over him came to Zane's head. _I couldn't predict that variable; I doubt Bastion could've predicted it. He thought he had Jaden after all in a duel. _Zane shivered slightly at the memory; Bastion might've noticed the shiver, but at that moment, the air conditioning turned on, making him and nearly everyone else in the room shiver.

"Fascinating lecture, wasn't it?" Bastion asked Zane as they got up, ready to leave.

"Yeah. Fascinating…So, what now?"

"Perhaps you'd like to go to another class. There's physical education…"

"The jog this morning was fine for that…"

"Art class…?"

"I never could draw well."

Bastion sighed and said, "Well, perhaps we could head to Dorothy's snack shop. I have a free period. And I believe the group is going to be there."

Zane sighed too…inwardly. _Great, just great…_

But he gamely went with Bastion to the snack shop. As it happened, only Jaden was there. "Hey, Zane, hey, Bastion!"

"Jaden, where is everyone?" Bastion asked.

"Alexis went shopping with Rosa, Violet and Annie. And the other guys…well, uh…" The brunette Slifer blushed. "There was an accident in our painting class. Hassleberry wanted to try using a paintball gun on the canvas and Sy tried to talk him out of it, and then…the paint cartridge blew. They're in the showers getting cleaned off so it's just me…" he apologized.

"Well, then…I…Jaden, why did Hassleberry want to do that?"

"He was trying to imitate an artist named Michael Jackson. The guy liked to throw paint at canvas while wearing a rhinestone glove!"

"Jaden," Zane sighed, "the artist was Jackson Pollack. Michael Jackson was a musician."

"Oh, yeah. Wasn't Michael Jackson a black guy?" Jaden asked.

"Yeah, but then he said that he got a skin disease that turned his skin white so he decided to become an anime character using plastic surgery. It didn't work."

Bastion grinned. "Well, I don't know about the anime character part, but he certainly bears a resemblance to some…"

They talked for a little bit about inconsequential things such as school and new Duel Monsters cards that were coming out. Finally, Jaden said, "Hey, Zane?"

"Yeah, Jaden?"

The boy met his elder's eyes. "Um…I just wanted you to know that I couldn't see my cards for a bit earlier this year and it was really scary. If you want to talk about anything, I just wanted you to know that I sort of understand what happened and I'm available," he said calmly.

Zane sighed and stood up. "Thanks for the offer, but…I think I'll go for a walk. Bastion, thank you for taking me to class. Just tell Syrus and anyone else that I went out for a while." And without so much as a goodbye, Zane left. Jaden and Bastion could only sit there stunned as the older teen left. He stayed out the rest of the day, skipping lunch and just walking around. He studiously avoided the beach, having a feeling that Atticus would ambush him and force him to go surfing. Finally, the sun went down and Zane was at the campus lighthouse.

"I thought you'd be here, Zane," Alexis said as she seemingly appeared out of nowhere. She'd come down quietly as she always had, managing to surprise him. The truth was that she had waited here since just after she'd eaten her dinner, knowing that Zane might not come here if he suspected she was here.

"Hi, Alexis," he said. "Have you been following me all day, too?" he asked with a serious edge to his voice.

"Zane, we could always talk here," she said, walking up to him. "When you were here, you always came down here to think and we'd talk when I got here. You wouldn't tell Sy what was bothering you, but you would tell me. So if you won't tell him, tell me now. Tell me how to help you, Zane. You protected me when Atticus was missing like Atticus would have protected me if he'd been here…" She thought about it and rephrased it. "Okay, you protected me differently than Atticus would have, but that's good. I still had a brother to watch out for me and somebody to come to when I needed to. And unlike with Atticus, I didn't have to worry about you trying to set me up on dates. Anyway, Zane, I want to help you like you helped me. So if you want to talk, I'm here."

He looked at her, the girl he definitely regarded as a sister. She looked so sweet and so giving at this moment and he knew all she wanted to do was help him. But he resented the intrusion. "Alexis, just back off! I don't feel like talking!" he snapped. Alexis jerked back as if she'd been slapped. But Zane didn't seem to care. "I'll see you later," he said, turned on his heel and then left, heading toward the Ra dorms.

After a couple of minutes, Alexis headed up to the Slifer dorms to report to the group. "He wouldn't even talk to me," she admitted as her friends sat around the room. "When he was a student here, he wouldn't talk much but he'd always talk to me." Unbidden, tears came to her eyes. "And he's never snapped at me like that before. And then he just stormed off."

Atticus moved, grabbing some Kleenex and putting an arm around his sister. "Lexi, you tried. Maybe I should…"

"No, Atticus, don't do that!" she said clearly, wiping her eyes and staring at him. "I don't need you to go telling him off, okay? I'm glad you love me enough to do that, but I don't think that'll help. But if he won't talk…what do we do now?"

Everyone looked at Bastion and Annie for answers. "Bastion, Annie, what the heck do we do now?" Violet asked. "I mean we could just tickle-torture him until he apologizes to Alexis and tells us what's bothering him, but I have a feeling you won't let me do it."

"No, and it likely wouldn't work," Bastion said. "Before either of us answer, Syrus, what do you think?"

The blue-headed boy straightened his specs and sighed. "I don't know. Bastion, Annie, guys, do what you think is right. I…just do what you have to do…"

Annie moved next to Sy and hugged him. "We'll do our best to help him, Sy. And…we've been researching to figure out what to do if he clams up. Bastion?"

The British-accented boy nodded and said, "We're open to suggestions of how to cheer Zane up and that means the use of more…unorthodox methods. Everyone, we suggest that you 

begin thinking of different ways to get Zane to…well, we'll settle for a smirk. So begin thinking of ways to make Zane happy…"

"Yes, Private Misawa," Hassleberry said cheerfully. "Commencing Operation: Laughin' Kaiser!"

_So Zane has decided to be silent. And now, his friends are considering more unorthodox methods to cheer Zane up or get him to talk. What will happen when a bunch of teens attempt to cheer up their friend using whatever they can think of? Stay tuned next time to find out! Until then, please read and review! Thank you!_


	6. Amateur Unorthodox Therapy

Chapter VI: Amateur Unorthodox Therapy

_Hello again, everyone. Welcome back to "The Path to Redemption." Thanks again for all of your reviews and favorites. They are a great motivator when one is stuck for ideas. It's a wonderful thing to know your stories and the alternate universe you have created seems to be enjoyed._

_To recap, Zane has not responded to traditional attempts to cheer him up, or at the very least, get him to open up a little about what's bothering him. So the group is trying to think of more unorthodox methods to cheer Zane up and maybe make him smirk. So how will our heroes' group therapy attempts work? Just stick around and you'll see!_

_**Disclaimer: Peach Wookiee doesn't own the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise. She does, however, own Annie Hanson and this idea. Violet Haverbrook and Rosa Jimenez are the property of 15animefreak15. Further, Peach does not own The Routine as seen in an episode of "Friends." Neither author owns any Broadway or movie song, or any published song. The authors would also like to thank the person who made the AMV on YouTube that had Dr. Crowler singing a song from "Rocky Horror Picture Show," which inspired one Talent Night act. So, please, no one needs to sue. **_

_**Warning: This part of the tale may seem a little bit "crack-fic" like. Peach hopes that this doesn't seem too out of place.**_

_**Author's note: Special thanks to Immortal Fallen Angel and Hermione494 for their consultation on Chazz's act for the talent show, as well as for consultation on the end of Jaden and Atticus's act.**_

The continued attempts to get Zane to talk had not worked. For three days after Zane had told Alexis to back off at the lighthouse, he had withdrawn. He only left his brother's room in Ra to shower, eat and wander around. Other than his brother, he barely talked to anyone. Even Chancellor Crowler had come down to the dorm to talk to his former star pupil, but the 19-year-old, other than a few curt sentences, had refused to discuss matters.

And so on the third day, the group of ten teenagers around Zane met in Chazz Princeton's palatial Slifer dorm suite to discuss their next move. "He definitely isn't responding to standard treatment. Granted, none of us has a degree in Psychology, and he won't talk to the school counselor. So I suppose we're trying amateur unorthodox therapy, aren't we?" Bastion asked.

"Is that bad?" Syrus asked, getting a worried look on his face. 'What if we can't do anything or what if this all makes him worse?'

Annie, sensing this, slipped her hand into his. "Sy…it'll be okay somehow and what we do shouldn't hurt him," she said softly.

"It shouldn't hurt him?" he asked in alarm. "Annie, what do you mean?"

Annie sighed, feeling bad that she'd scared him. "What I mean is that we will try to get him happy without doing him unintentional harm, okay, Sy?" He nodded, hugging her.

And then Sy felt another pair of arms around him. "Sy, we won't hurt him," Jaden said, hugging his surrogate brother. "Bro, we wouldn't do that. It'll be all right." And then the others were around them, even Chazz (somewhat reluctantly), so Sy knew that he wasn't alone and his friends would help him. However, Syrus was still terrified that something no one anticipated would happen and he'd lose Zane.

"S-so, what's the first plan?" he asked softly.

"Well, this is Operation: Laughing Kaiser," Bastion answered with a wry grin at his fellow Ras.

Hassleberry grinned sheepishly. "It's hard figurin' out operational names. I wonder how the military does it?"

"We probably do not want to know, Señor Hassleberry," Rosa said, picturing a bunch of men and women around a table writing out names for military operations, some of which got pretty silly. "Perhaps there is a list somewhere…"

"Yeah, we don't want to know," Alexis agreed, sweat-dropping. "So…what's the first plan?"

"I've got one! I've got one!" Violet said excitedly. "Bastion, I'll need your help!"

"With what, Violet?" he asked, meeting her green eyes with his gray ones, genuinely curious.

"The Routine!" she grinned.

"The what? Violet, I'm afraid I'm not familiar with it. Could you explain?" he asked.

Violet nodded and headed to Chazz's computer. She called up a YouTube video clip of the television show, _Friends,_ which showed two characters doing what was possibly one of the worst and most hilarious dance routines ever. The characters were attempting to get on a New Year's Eve television special and tried what they referred to as "The Routine." "Isn't it great?" she asked.

"Yeah, but how do we get him to see it?" Atticus wondered. "He won't leave his room except for eating, walking and getting a shower."

Everyone sat around for a long moment, unsure of what to do. And then Jaden had a sudden and rare stroke of brilliance. "TALENT NIGHT!" he shouted with such force Sy and Annie fell out of their seats.

"Slacker, I don't think Alaska heard you," Chazz said, rubbing his ear. "But…Talent Night? How will we get Zane to come to that? He's not a student anymore. It's not like Crowler could or would put him in detention."

Atticus looked at Alexis. "Lexi, since when does Zane get dragged anywhere kicking and screaming?"

"Good point, but you know how he is when he doesn't want to go somewhere," she sighed. Alexis, Atticus and Syrus all exchanged glances remembering when 6-year-old Zane had simply refused to go on a field trip. It had been a trip to a circus and Zane had been a bit afraid of clowns. While he hadn't kicked and screamed, he'd simply refused to get off the bus. He didn't like clowns and no matter what the teachers had done, he wouldn't budge.

"Syrus?" Jaden asked curiously. And so Syrus sighed and told. Somehow, no one was surprised. "That sounds like Zane all right," the future King of Games observed. "But…he was afraid of clowns?"

"Well, it was because he accidentally saw the 1989 version of _Batman_ and the Joker kind of scared him," Sy explained. "The Nicholson Joker didn't scare me, but the Heath Ledger version did in the 2008 movie. I was eight when it came out on DVD and Mom and Dad were watching it when I went to bed. I woke up and went to their room and…well, I saw the Joker and he scared me. I had trouble sleeping for a few nights," he admitted.

"Who didn't?" Violet asked, shivering. "I mean…the Joker from _The Batman _and _Batman: The Animated Series_ wasn't so freaky. Heath Ledger's Joker…he scared the sugar right out of me." Everyone, even Chazz, had a certain expression of terror on their faces.

"Yes…that was rather disturbing," Bastion commented. For him, that was an understatement. He had seen said Joker in the 2008 movie and had to sleep in his parents' room for a few nights. For the most part, Bastion had been a very logical child, unafraid of television and movie villains and monsters. But there had been something about that Joker that had put fear in Bastion's heart. But now he shook it off. "Anyway, so he can be rather stubborn if he doesn't wish to go somewhere. So…how shall we get him to come?"

Over the next few minutes, the gang made suggestions from tricking him into going to the auditorium and locking the doors so he couldn't leave (Violet's idea) to tying him up with duct tape and making him watch the show (Hassleberry and Rosa's idea).

"Well, we could get him in there and have him sit down on a seat covered in super glue," Atticus concluded lamely.

"Guys, why don't I just ask him?" Sy suggested. "He might actually just come. We've had talent night here before and he's come. So I'll try that before we try anything else. I just…want him to be okay again."

And so, the group ran up to Chancellor Crowler's office and to their surprise, he granted their request. "I'd like to perform if I could, kids."

"Sure, Doctor…uh, Chancellor Crowler," Jaden said. "What would you like to do?"

"I'll sing or something. I can't juggle to save my life."

"Okay, Chancellor Crowler, I'll put you down for some kind of act. Just let us know what you decide to do," Annie said, writing it down on her PDA.

"You may have the auditorium and the sound equipment. Bastion, I expect you to operate it," Crowler said sternly, imagining Jaden at the controls and possibly blowing up the school or causing some sort of disaster.

Bastion nodded. "Yes, sir. I shall do my best. Is it quite all right if Violet and Annie assist me?"

Vellian Crowler thought carefully. "All right. Since it's the three of you, that's fine. We'll have this talent night tomorrow so everyone has an opportunity to participate. What is the goal?"

"To make Lieutenant Zane laugh, sir!" Hassleberry explained. "I've got an act planned with Rosa and it's going to be fun!"

"Oh?"

"We would like to perform the Paso Doble," Rosa said. "We have been practicing this native dance of España together, and we would like to perform it in front of the entire escuela."

Doctor Crowler nodded, and Annie wrote down that act. Within a couple of hours the students of Duel Academy were abuzz with the news of a talent night to be held the next evening. Mindy Carrington and Jasmine Fairbanks planned a cheer routine with Alexis, while Jaden had gotten Atticus to do a pie-throwing routine with him. Annie had agreed to sing one of her favorite songs from _Phantom of the Opera_, and other students had their own acts planned.

That evening, Bastion, Annie and Violet were in the auditorium in the sound and lighting booth and Syrus was on the stage, testing the microphones. "T-testing, 1 2 3," he said into one mike. "Can you hear me?" he called up to the room.

"Loud and clear, Syrus," Bastion answered into his microphone. "Try the next." Sy did and then tried the next. All of the mikes worked, and so Bastion tried the lighting. "Shall we try a red spotlight?" he called down.

"Um…sure!" Sy said. Bastion hit a button and the blue-haired Ra Yellow was bathed in red light. His jacket now looked orange and his hair looked purple. "Cool!" he said. "How do I look, Annie?"

Annie forced down her blush. No matter how she looked at him, he looked handsome to her. "You…look good, Syrus!" she called. "Let's try you in a blue light!" she called through the mike. Bastion punched another button, changing the light so Sy looked like a fluffy headed Smurf wearing a green jacket.

"I look funny, don't I?" he asked, laughing. Annie laughed a bit, too. And then…a small problem occurred.

"Hey, what does this button do, Bastion?" Violet asked, leaning past him and touching a lighting button. Syrus's skin and hair turned purple and his jacket turned brown. Violet's jaw dropped in horror, thinking for a moment that she'd done something permanent. "I TURNED HIM PURPLE!" she yelped.

"Violet, it's all right!" Bastion said quickly. Sy was looking up at the sound booth, puzzled.

"Uh…guys, is everything okay?" the smaller teen boy asked through a microphone.

"Yes, Syrus. Violet, just watch," Bastion said quickly, switching the light colors back to normal. Sy stood in the normal light with his yellow jacket and blue hair in contrast with each other. "See? Not permanent."

"Phew! I thought for a second I'd sure as sugar dyed him purple! I know better but…"

"You're wonderfully random, Violet. Don't worry about it," Bastion said. He enjoyed the way she was and wouldn't change a thing about her. "Okay, Syrus, almost done! Now, you are pink!" And Sy looked a bit like a Watapon.

Violet went starry-eyed. "He looks like a Watapon! With glasses! That is so cute!"

Bastion then switched the lights back to normal. "All right, Syrus! All done! Thank you!" he called down from the booth. Syrus sighed happily and made his way up to the booth.

"Are…are you going to practice a little, Annie?" he asked shyly. He loved to hear her sing, and had even crept near Obelisk in the evenings when she would sit at her window and sing for the joy of doing it. She had been selected to sing the national anthem when the academy had an all-school baseball game and she had, in Sy's humble opinion, done very well.

"Um…yeah, if no one minds," she smiled shyly, handing Bastion a CD with the background music. Annie got up, walked down the stairs and up to the stage. Bastion set a blue-accented spotlight and it accented the girl's eyes and skin tone quite well. With a signal from Annie, Bastion cued the music and she began to sing "Music of the Night" from _Phantom of the Opera._ "Was…was that all right?" she asked when she finished.

"All right? Annie, that was INCREDIBLE!" Violet yelled in her usual enthusiastic way. "You..wow! How do you sing like that?!"

Annie blushed. "I…uh…just…do?" she stammered.

"You did wonderfully, didn't she, Syrus?" Bastion added, truly impressed with the shy Obelisk girl.

Syrus nodded. "Y-yeah, Annie…you sing like Julie Kobashigawa!" Julie Kobashigawa was the latest young woman who took the role of Dark Magician Girl in _Mana, The Dark Magician Girl_, the Broadway musical about the Duel Monster of the same name. So coming from Syrus, that was a huge compliment.

"You really think I sing like Julie?" she asked, blushing. "You think I'm that good?"

"Yeah…you sing great!" he answered, blushing back. "B-better than Julie…" Annie blushed even more deeply.

YGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGO

The next day, the students and teachers of Duel Academy went to class, rehearsed and prepared their wardrobes for the night to come. Meanwhile, Syrus had to convince his brother to get out of their room to get to the Talent Night.

"Zane, come on…it'll be fun…"

Zane was sitting on the big bed in the Ra Yellow dorm, not entirely convinced of this. "Syrus, what's the point of going?" he asked. "Does it make me a better duelist?"

Sy swallowed. _How do I get through to him? He just…_ "Zane, let's just go and at least root for our friends. I'm sitting in the audience to cheer everybody on. Annie's singing tonight, and Atticus and Jay are doing an act too! And…Alexis is doing a cheer routine with Mindy and Jasmine…" The boy hoped his brother would be interested in this. He never could be sure, but he wondered if Alexis was just a friend or if she was something more to his brother. But even if she was, Jaden liked her a lot now.

Zane sighed. He could see that if he didn't go, the whole gang would probably find a way to drag him there. "All right, Sy…you win. I'll go. I know what will happen if I don't, little brother."

Sy smiled and hugged his brother. "Okay! Let's get some dinner and then go to the show! I think you'll really like it. Come on, Zane!" He got Zane to get up and head down to the Ra dining room and then got him to the main building for the talent show.

"Oh, good, Zane, you made it," Alexis greeted as the Truesdale brothers entered the huge lecture hall. "Come on and sit down, guys," she said, leading them to their seats in a middle row. "This is the best view of the stage. Enjoy the show…I'm on with Mindy and Jasmine in half an hour; I have to be backstage!" And Alexis ran off backstage. She was dressed in a cheerleader's costume, and that made the elder Truesdale brother wonder just what she was planning.

"Syrus, what is Alexis doing?" Zane asked, giving his brother a sidelong look. "You mentioned a cheer routine…"

"Yup! Cheer routine. It's kind of a dance thing, too. I saw her, Mindy and Jasmine practice today. They looked great! And everyone in our group is doing something, except me of course…"

"Syrus… you were supposed to drag me here, weren't you?" Zane asked pointedly.

The bluenette blushed, knowing that his brother had him there. "Yeah…I guess," he admitted. "But…I mean, it's not like I have a lot of great talent…"

"You do sing a little, you know," Zane pointed out quickly. He knew Sy sang a bit, but was too shy to do it in public.

"Yeah, well, Annie sings great. I'd just drag her down…"

"Someday, you'll sing with her without fearing that you'll drag her down," Zane said wisely. He had a feeling that his little brother liked Annie more than he was letting on. But the elder brother realized now was not the time to tease his brother. Nor did he have the inclination to do it. Soon, the lights dimmed, and the first act began.

Chazz Princeton came out on stage and spun plates on tall poles. He finished by throwing the plates in the air and the poles. He caught the plates, only to be hit in the head with the falling poles. "Ow… the Chazz doesn't like that…" Nevertheless, he managed a bow and got off the stage. Chazz was followed by two fellow second years, Briar and Beauregard, who did a song and dance act based on Gene Kelly's performance with Jerry the mouse in _Anchors Aweigh _and later Stewie Griffin in _Family Guy._

Next up was Dr. Vellian Crowler. He came out dressed in what appeared to be a black one-piece swimsuit, a black bustier and fishnet stockings, along with black pumps. Everyone's jaws dropped. "Hello, everyone. You're all probably wondering what in the blazes I'm doing dressed like this. Well, recently, I was looking at one of my favorite movie musicals and I held up a picture of myself to the actor who played Frankenfurter. I decided I rather look like him, so I am going to be performing 'Sweet Transvestite' from _Rocky Horror Picture Show._"

Up in the seats, Zane sat up in shock. "Did he say what I think he said? Is he singing..?"

Backstage, Jaden looked puzzled. "What's a transvestite?" Alexis quickly explained. "Oh…that's all? Really?"

"Yeah, that's it, Jaden," she concluded, sweat-dropping.

"Well, I don't think he is. That's how he looks 24/7 and he doesn't really dress like a girl," Jaden said with a smile.

"I think you're right, Jaden," Annie agreed kindly as she put the finishing touches on her costume. She was wearing a long black velvet dress with white lace at the plunging collar and a white mask over the right half of her face.

Meanwhile, Dr. Crowler cued the music and lip-synced to a modified version of "Sweet Transvestite," as sung by Tim Curry over four decades previously. He strutted around the stage in his outfit lip-syncing while the students were laughing until it hurt. At the end, he bowed and looked up at one student in particular. Zane wasn't laughing and hadn't been.

"Didn't you think it was funny, big brother?" Syrus asked, wishing his brother would just smirk or something. No such luck.

"I'm sorry, Sy…I just didn't feel like laughing," Zane answered tiredly.

Next up was Jaden and Atticus. "Hello, Duel Academy!" the Slifer Red brunette with the red shock of hair whooped. "Tonight, we shall witness the Amazing Atticus and the Flying Pies of Doom! Sorry, but they wouldn't let us use flying knives of doom!" he said, grinning sheepishly. The audience collectively sweat-dropped, picturing Jaden throwing knives at the very cute Obelisk Blue and the resulting mess made worse by the fact that Atticus was on a spinning wheel.

"I'm okay, ladies! The Master of Love is…" SPLAT! Jaden had thrown the first pie, hitting Atticus in the face. Jaden threw a few more pies, hitting the older boy in the arms, the legs and, most unfortunately, the crotch. Fortunately however, Atticus was wearing a cup. "I'm okay!" he grinned when he was released from the wheel, coated in whipped cream. And then he noticed that Jaden hadn't used one pie. As Jaden was bowing to the crowd, Atticus grabbed the remaining pie. And when Jaden turned to shake his friend's hand, the Obelisk Blue hit him in the face with the pie. The entire room roared with laughter; everyone laughed, that is, except for Zane.

Next onstage were Hassleberry and Rosa, dressed up in a tuxedo and a bright red dress, respectively. "This evening, Señor Hassleberry and I will be performing the Paso Doble, a dance in which the muchacha leads," Rosa explained.

"Yeah, and we'll be dancin' to Celine Dion's 'When the Wrong One Loves You Right,'" Hassleberry added. Several boys in the audience groaned as did a few girls. Some people detested the Canadian singer, while others liked her. The music began and the dance went well until the couple was spinning…and fell off the stage. Fortunately, no one was hurt seriously. "We're okay!" Hassleberry grinned sheepishly, giving a thumbs up as he helped Rosa up. "You okay, darlin'?" he asked her.

"Sí, I am bien," she answered calmly, recognizing that accidents do happen. The room clapped and cheered for them and laughed as well. They headed backstage to be patched up and then sat down in the audience with those students who had already performed. "Señor Hassleberry, who is up next?" Rosa asked in Spanish.

"Annie's up next," Hassleberry answered in Spanish. "She's singing from a musical called _Phantom of the Opera._ Have you heard of it?"

"Yes, I have," she answered. "Which song is she singing?"

"It's called 'Music of the Night,'" he answered.

"Of course. She's been singing it everywhere she can. I don't think she imagined she would perform for us, but she is performing."

"I'll be glad to hear her," Hassleberry answered in English as Jaden and Atticus came and sat down. Their clean-up had taken a bit longer.

"Hey, guys, has Zane laughed yet?" Jaden asked as he sat next to Hassleberry.

"Negative, Sarge," Tyson sighed. "Private Truesdale gave me the no signal just a second ago…" And then the curtains parted.

Annie came onstage and instead of going for laughs, she sang her song. At the end, she smiled and bowed politely as the student body gave her a standing ovation. She blushed, and ordinarily, that meant she would faint. However, she came off the stage and got to her seat. "I didn't faint," she smiled happily.

"No, Señorita Annie, you did not," Rosa complimented. "You did beautifully. Now sit down and enjoy Señorita Alexis's…como se dice…?" she asked Hassleberry, puzzled.

"Cheer routine, Rosa. Yeah… and then Bastion and Violet perform their funny dance number!" Hassleberry grinned.

Up a couple of rows, Syrus caught Annie's eye and gave her a shy smile. She shyly smiled back. And then he looked at his brother. Zane didn't look like he was enjoying this night too much. "Zane, big brother, are you okay?" Sy asked. "You don't look like you're enjoying this at all…"

Zane sighed. "I'm all right, Syrus. Let's just watch the rest of this, okay?" And so they did.

Alexis came running onto the stage in a blue and white cheerleader's outfit with pink pom-poms. Mindy and Jasmine entered from opposite ends of the stage, doing back-flips and landing on their feet. "Hello, everybody! This evening, we're doing a little routine to a song about tough girls. It's from an anime called 'Revolutionary Girl Utena,' and the song is called 'Round Dance Revolution,'" the Queen of Obelisk Blue explained. Alexis cued the song and the three girls did a 4 minute, thirty-five second routine with flips, jumps and twirls. They concluded with a twirling move which ended with Alexis in the center on bended knee holding up her pom-poms in triumph with Mindy and Jasmine on either side of her doing the splits and their pom-poms dropped at their sides. The applause was deafening. But Zane still sat clapping, but without emotion.

Annie looked up at her crush/friend and his brother and then looked at the gang. "Guys…I think Violet and Bastion are our last hope here…"

Jaden looked back up and nodded to Annie in agreement. "Yeah. I just hope they can make Zane laugh. The other bits were really funny except yours, Annie and Alexis's…"

Rather than have a formal introduction, Bastion and Violet's dance song, "The Trouble with Boys," began playing and the two skipped out onto the stage and began what could easily be considered the worse dance routine in history. Of course, it was meant to be that way. Violet pointed to Bastion with two fingers as the first chorus came up, and then yelled, "5, 6, 7, 8!" Then she mock-slapped him and they did strange versions of the Mashed Potato, the Funky Chicken, hopping on one foot while holding one foot with one hand. They threw in bizarre ballet moves, jazz hands and heaven knew what else. Finally, Violet jumped into Bastion's arms, completing The Routine. Everyone in the audience clapped and cheered, and the group of kids that had engineered the talent show looked up at the Truesdale brothers.

Unfortunately, Syrus was alone in his seat. At the intermission, he came down to the group, upset. "Jay..he just left," Sy sighed sadly, hugging his best male friend. Violet and Bastion had come down from the stage in time to hear the news.

"It didn't work? What in the name of sugar?!" Violet groaned.

"Oh, bloody…Well, is it back to square one?" Bastion asked, clearly frustrated as he wiped his face with a towel.

"I think we need to do something else," Annie sighed, moving to hug Syrus too.

"Annie…what else can we do?" the bluenette wondered.

She looked at everyone and Atticus raised his hand, grinning wickedly. "The Master of Love is also the Master of Pranks! I may just have an idea…" And everyone stared at the Obelisk boy, wondering just what kind of plan he'd come up with…

_Cliffhanger! Just what horror…uh, help does Atticus have in mind? Stay tuned for the next installment of "The Path to Redemption," folks, and as always, read and review! Sorry this took so long!_


	7. A Good IdeaOr Not

Chapter VII: A Good Idea…Or Not…

_Welcome back to "The Path to Redemption!" Thank you again for all of your reviews and for reading. Again, I'd like to thank my co-author of "Summer Love, Summer Fears" and "A Guy's Worst Nightmare," 15animefreak15 for allowing me to use Violet Haverbrook and Rosa Jimenez, her OCs. Without her and them, this story would not be what it is. And on that note, we shall continue…_

_To recap, Zane wouldn't laugh…The gang tried talking to Zane and tried making him laugh with a school-wide talent show. In other circumstances, Zane might've laughed, but he was so down, he couldn't even smirk. And when Bastion and Violet finished their dance routine, the gang discovered that the former Kaiser of Duel Academy had flown the coop. And then, Atticus revealed that he had an idea to cheer up Zane. So what has Atticus got up his sleeve? Read and find out._

_**Disclaimer: Peach doesn't own the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise. She and 15animefreak15 own this version of the Yugi-verse. Peach owns this story and Annie Hanson.**_

_**Warning: Comical nudity (group streaking—Atty's idea—the guys really don't want to do it!) and use of a French swear phrase. Oh, yes…and an angry Sy…**_

Atticus raised his hand, grinning wickedly. "The Master of Love is also the Master of Pranks! I may just have an idea…" And everyone stared at the Obelisk boy, wondering just what kind of plan he'd come up with. Zane had left the auditorium at the Duel Academy talent show's intermission without laughing and it seemed that Operation: Laughing Kaiser was failing.

"Okay, Atticus…what's your idea?" Syrus asked, looking toward the doors at the back of the lecture hall. He wanted to help his brother, but wasn't sure what the older Obelisk boy was planning.

"Let's finish the show, and then I'll tell you guys down at Slifer, okay?" Atticus answered with a grin. He had one last idea that just might make Zane crack a smile. But for now, he sat down with the rest of the group to watch the rest of the talent show, the highlight of which was Aster Phoenix juggling flaming torches.

Meanwhile, Zane headed out of the main school building and down to the lighthouse. 'Why did I even bother to go? What was the point?' he asked himself.

'Didn't a small part of you go to have a little fun?' the voice in his head responded. 'Didn't part of you just want to relax a while and have fun with your friends?'

'Maybe a little bit, but what's the point? It doesn't help me at all!' he mentally shouted back. 'I've been here over a week and I still can't figure this out! How am I supposed to do anything to get myself back up and ready to duel?!'

'You need to let your friends and more importantly your brother help you,' the calmer voice responded.

"They can't help me," he sighed out loud into the night. "They can't make me not be afraid to duel. They can't take back the failures in the Pro League. I can't…" He hit his balled fist against the outer wall of the lighthouse. And then he headed back up to Ra Yellow, changed into his pajamas and climbed into bed. Sy wasn't back yet, so at least he didn't have to worry about his little brother looking at him with those sad puppy eyes. And so Zane fell asleep at 9:45 PM.

As Zane made his way back to Ra, the other teens headed into the Slifer common room/cafeteria. "So…what now?" Jaden asked, feeling a little down. "I thought for sure that'd work. So…"

"I thought that would be successful," Bastion sighed. "So…what's the suggestion, Atticus?"

The big Obelisk boy grinned. "Okay…girls, I think you need to leave for this! We want plausible deniability! And Lexi, you don't want to hear this! Trust me!"

Alexis sighed. "I have a bad feeling about this," she said, shaking her head as she, Violet, Rosa and Annie temporarily vacated the room.

"It's Atticus…we all have a bad feeling," Annie soothed as they headed to the vacant Slifer room next to the cafeteria. Meanwhile, Atticus grinned.

"All right, now that the girls are gone, we can talk about this…Sy, what's Zane's favorite movie that he wouldn't easily admit to it being his favorite?" Atticus asked with a grin.

Sy blushed. "Um… 'Old School' with Will Ferrell. Atticus, what are you thinking?"

"Wasn't his favorite scene the streaking scene?" the older boy asked, keeping the mischievous grin.

"Atticus," Bastion asked, eyes widening in horror, "are you possibly suggesting that we go running around in the all-together? Are you bloody serious?!"

Atticus nodded, grinning madly. "Uh-huh! Guys, it'll cheer him up! I'm sure it will! He'll be laughing his head off!"

"Atticus…we are going to so end up in detention!" Jaden said, worried. "I don't need to be there any more this year!"

"I really don't want to end up in solitary!" Hassleberry agreed. "The Sarge is right. Especially if Chancellor Crowler catches us, we're goin' to be in real trouble, Lieutenant Atticus!"

"Syrus…you know I'm right," Atticus grinned. Sy sighed, not sure about this at all. But reluctantly, he agreed it was worth a try. And so the boys, with the exception of Aster Phoenix, agreed to get Zane outside the next afternoon so he would see a sort of re-enactment of the scene in "Old School" where Will Ferrell runs down an empty street wearing nothing but sneakers and a smile only to be caught by his wife and her friends. If this worked, it would go down in Academy history as the most daring prank ever pulled in the name of helping a friend. If it didn't work, it would still go down in Academy history in the same way.

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The next afternoon, Alexis, Violet, Annie and Rosa resolved to have a picnic lunch on the lawn near Ra Yellow, oblivious of what the boys were planning. "Violet, did you make the chocolate mousse?" Annie asked as they packed up baskets in Obelisk.

"Yup…A picnic wouldn't be complete without some kind of chocolate, and I was in a mousse kind of mood," the purple-headed girl grinned.

"I made the sandwiches!" Alexis said, folding waxed paper over the last roast beef sandwich.

"And I brought the…como se dice? Chips," Rosa said, smiling. "So…we are having the picnic near Ra?"

"Yup! Sure as sugar!" Violet grinned. "This is going to be great. I invited the boys, but they all said they were doing something…But Bastion wouldn't tell me what it was. And he didn't seem to want to do whatever it was…"

"Hmm…I'll go see if I can find Sy, okay?" Annie said.

"Okay," Violet grinned as the girls gathered up the picnic basket and prepared to head out. "Just meet up with us in a little bit, all right?"

"Okay! See you guys in a little bit," the blue-eyed girl answered as she headed out.

Annie walked up the path toward Ra with a backpack carrying emergency supplies, such as a spare pair of shorts. It was a good thing she had those today, because as she walked by a bush, she saw a puff of blue in a nearby bush. Curious, she headed over, and sure enough…

"Sy?" she asked. "Is that you?"

The boy yelped. "ANNIE! Um…oh, geez…Um…Don't look too close…I'm…sort of…naked…" The girl's eyes widened.

"Naked? Sy…why are you naked?" she asked, moving a little closer. "Did someone prank you?" She was very careful not to look and pulled the shorts from her backpack. They were a flannel pair with a drawstring. "Here, put these on…So what happened?"

"Well, the guys are doing something to try to cheer up Zane…They're…going streaking…"

Annie's jaw dropped as Sy emerged from the bushes clad in her favorite blue plaid flannel boxers that she liked to wear in the evenings. "Streaking?!"

Meanwhile, Zane stood outside the Ra dorm on the deck outside, wondering why Sy had told him to stand out here now. 'What is going on?' he wondered, staring down at the pathway. 'This has to be another crazy idea of theirs…'

Up in a huge set of bushes… "Ready, guys?" Atticus asked, grinning.

"Atticus…this is crazy…What is it with you and this stuff?" Jaden asked, feeling really uncomfortable. "I'll do this to help out Zane, but this is…just nuts."

"We'll do this for Lieutenant Atticus," Hassleberry said, flushing a tanned red. "I just wish we were re-enactin' somethin' else…"

Bastion shifted uncomfortably. "We are so dead…I'm doing this to help Zane, but I feel…I wouldn't do this…It's… sort of immature…"

Chazz, too, looked a bit uncomfortable. "I wouldn't do this…even if it did get attention from ladies…but…heck, I'll do it…"

Jaden put his arm on Chazz's shoulder, grinning. "Yeah, Chazz. It's for a good cause."

"Slacker…back off! Don't get so close!" the raven-haired boy growled. "This is really uncomfortable!"

"Sorry!" Jaden apologized, moving away from the other boy. This was perhaps the strangest semi-normal situation Jaden had ever been in, and he remembered sage advice from one of his favorite sitcom stars' biographies: "Don't stand too close to a naked man." So he didn't stand too close. "I wonder where Sy went…He may be hiding."

"Good bet, that," Bastion said, agreeing with his assessment. "He probably dove behind a bush…I just hope someone polite finds him…"

"It'll probably be Annie, knowing Sy's luck," the Slifer king sighed. He had his suspicions about his best friend and the girl who'd risked being caught after hours to see if he was okay after the incident with Alexis in their first year. Jaden might seem like a dreamy dim-bulb, but the truth was, there were times he just knew how to play dumb. _And the last thing I want to do is embarrass Sy by teasing him about Annie,_ he thought.

The five boys looked at each other. "So, soldiers, are we ready for this?" Tyson Schwarzkopf Hassleberry asked nervously. Everyone except for Atticus nodded with obvious nervousness.

"Then let's do this!" Atticus grinned happily, oblivious to the other guys' nervousness now. He had a pair of binoculars and confirmed that Zane was waiting on the deck. "Let's move!" He yelled a war whoop and the boys began their run down the path.

Alexis, Violet and Rosa had just sat down at their picnic spot by this time. "Wonder what's taking Annie so long?" Violet wondered aloud. "She went after Syrus a little bit ago…Hope she's okay…"

"She's probably coaxing him out of a hole or something," Alexis sighed. "When he gets nervous, it's really hard to get him out of wherever he's hiding. There was this one time when Atticus, Zane, Sy and I were playing at preschool and one kid brought out the big kids' class's pet snake. Sy freaked and hid in the class loft and he wouldn't come down until his mom came. And then at Domino Elementary…I heard this from Zane…Sy got scared during recess and refused to leave the Big Toy."

"Big…toy?" Rosa asked, puzzled. She had come from a small village in Spain and the common playground playthings of American children were not well known to her.

Alexis quickly explained, "It's a huge climbing thing made out of metal and plastic or wood and it usually has slides and swings and swinging bars."

"Ah, I understand," Rosa said, nodding. "They sound muy divertido," she concluded, meaning that they sounded very fun.

And then, they heard the war whoop. Zane, standing on the balcony, looked up and his eyes widened in shock. There were his five closest friends running down the path, dressed in nothing but socks, sneakers and (at least in Atticus's case) a smile. "Oh, lord," the former Obelisk groaned.

"Hey, Zane!" Atticus grinned. "Remember this scene from 'Old School?'"

Zane only groaned as the young men ran by. They passed the balcony and then ran past the three girls on the picnic. A pair of hazel eyes, a pair of green eyes and a pair of chocolate brown eyes widened. They didn't see much, but they knew the guys were definitely not wearing anything.

Violet grinned and shouted, "YAY GUYS!" She admired their…it was either stupidity, courage or a bit of both. Bastion was in the middle of the pack, not wanting to have any more of him seen than was necessary. Part of Violet wouldn't have minded seeing Bastion, but perhaps it was too soon for that.

Rosa Jimenez had never seen anything like this. She'd been to stadiums for bullfights, but never had she seen streakers before, as it is terribly unwise to streak at a bullfight. And so… "DIOS MIO!" she yelped in shock.

Alexis, meanwhile, sighed. "I should've known…I so didn't need to see that…" Part of her had wished she'd had the guts to look (she might actually have seen Jaden), but her brother running at the front of the pack had spoiled any desire to look. "This is why they wanted us out of the room last night. I love my brother, but I am going to _kill him!"_ Judging by the Obelisk Queen's expression, she might actually have been considering fratricide; however, Violet and Rosa both knew Atticus was in no real danger from his sister. However, all five boys in the streaking group were about to be in danger from another source.

Professor Jean-Louis Bonaparte was taking a walk with Chancellor Vellian Crowler and heading down the same path that the five naked boys were running up. "As I was saying, Vellian, it would be tré bien if we could have... SACRE MERDE!" That wasn't what he meant to say, and Crowler knew what he said.

"Jean-Louis, what do you…AAAAH!" He saw the same thing Bonaparte saw. Five naked boys were running toward them and quickly moved around them. The boys ran fast and got to their appointed place to get dressed and half-expected the teachers to come after them.

"We are so dead," Jaden groaned as he pulled on his jeans. "I mean…Crowler and Bonaparte saw us…"

"Slacker, for once you're right. They're going to kill us," Chazz groaned. "Why we let you talk us into this, Atticus…"

"This will be on my permanent record and Mum and Dad will kill me," Bastion groaned. "I can't claim temporary insanity for this!"

"Dad's gonna put me in the prison barracks!" Hassleberry moaned as he got on his fatigues.

"Don't worry, guys, the Master of Pranks will take the blame!" Atticus soothed as he got his jacket back on. He would gladly take the blame for this plan, especially if it had worked. However, the boys soon found they had no reason to worry. When they walked back up the path, Crowler and Bonaparte were still standing there at the crossroads between the dorms, stunned with their jaws dropped open.

"Uh…Chancellor Crowler?" Jaden tried, "Are you okay? Professor Bonaparte?"

"Uh…" Crowler regained his power of speech, and asked with a look at Bonaparte, "Did you…happen to just run by?"

"Yes, sir," Atticus said, "and it was all my idea, sir..."

Crowler, with another look at Bonaparte, cut Atticus off. "Atticus, I'm glad to see you gentlemen are interested in exercise and helping a friend. Now…let us never speak of it again."

The five boys looked at each other, stunned and nodded. And then, they ran.

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One hour later, the small band of teens met down at the Slifer cafeteria. "Zane didn't even smirk," Atticus sighed, "and he said that what we did was pretty stupid."

Syrus sighed. _He just said he's going to stay in his room. But I can't just let him withdraw…_

"So…what now?" Alexis asked. "Nothing's worked…"

"Sí, we have tried everything, have we not?" Rosa added.

"I still say we should tickle-torture him," Violet asserted, but anyone could tell that she knew it wouldn't work.

"So…what's our next move?" Annie asked quietly.

"The better question: Is there a next move?" Bastion wondered. The group was silent for a long moment, fearing that they were now unable to do anything for Zane.

"I think we're out of ideas," Jaden groaned finally.

And then, something came to Syrus. "No, we're not," he stated, eyes beginning to burn with determination. "I should've thought of this…Let's do an intervention."

"An intervention?" Annie and Bastion exclaimed at the same time.

"Sy," Annie said, "an intervention is really tricky. And we're not professionals. I mean…we'll have Miss Fontaine and the school counselor, but we can't send him to a facility for rehab. This is what he's got."

"He has us," Sy said firmly. "And I'm not going to let him pull in. An intervention is when we have something in place to help him, right?" Everyone nodded. "Then…everybody, prepare to tell Zane good things about himself and why what he's doing is hurting us! Annie, Bastion, guys…I know this is risky, but I want him to get better! We just can't give up!"

"We don't have much more to lose, do we?" Annie responded. "Okay, Sy…if you think it's a good idea, we'll try it. When do you want to do this?" The rest of the gang looked at him, waiting for instructions.

"Two hours…can you all be ready by then?" he asked. They nodded and began thinking of what they could say to make Zane understand that what they were about to do was non-negotiable and that he must accept their help.

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Two hours later, Zane was laying face down on the bed in his brother's bedroom. _They tried and I was right. They can't help me shake this feeling that I'm hopeless. I can't duel and I can't live. So I might as well just sit here for now. _And then, there was a knock on the door. "Who is it?" he growled softly, lifting his head.

And then the door opened. Syrus came into the room, followed by all of their friends and all of them looked deadly serious. "Zane, we've decided we can't let you be this way anymore," Sy began.

"We all love you too much to let you keep telling yourself that you're somehow worthless, Zane, and we're not going to let you do it to yourself," Alexis continued.

"Zane, you are good enough. And we're going to make you believe in it and yourself again," Atticus asserted. "You're my best friend and there's no way I'm going to let you fall."

"Zane, you're an awesome duelist and you need help to remember how good you are and that you're a good person too!" Jaden added. "You're just going through a bad time, and you're hurting yourself and the people that care about you."

One by one, each of the teens told Zane why they admired him and that he needed help. When they finished, Zane sighed. "And what can you do that hasn't already been done? Has it occurred to any of you that I don't need the help and that I just came here to relax? I'm fine and I don't need two amateur shrinks telling me that I need help!" he concluded, raising his voice and looking daggers at Bastion and Annie.

"We are helping you, Zane, whether you like it or not," Bastion answered calmly. "We are not offering you an option to reject this. You are accepting this…"

"Please, Zane…We just want to…" Annie began gently.

"Help, I know," the pro duelist said harshly. "Well, I don't need it, so just shut up!"

Annie's eyes widened with hurt, and something in Syrus snapped. "That's enough, Zane," he said with a deadly calm. "Everybody out…I need to talk with my brother alone."

"Sy?" Jaden asked, worried. "Are you..?"

"Everybody out," the blue-headed boy said again firmly. He wasn't about to let Zane get away with treating Annie, Bastion and the others like the way he was trying to treat them. "I'll be fine!" The group headed out, staying outside the door.

When the boys were alone, Zane stared at his brother. "Syrus, listen…"

"NO! You listen, Zane! We have tried everything **but **this, hoping you'd come around. But _I'm _not going to let you wallow in this mood! You hear me, big bro?! As of this moment, you are accepting the fact that we must intervene. So tomorrow morning, whether you like it or not, you are going to deal with all of us, and especially me. I won't be sleeping in here tonight, but that doesn't mean you're going to be able to escape. I've got Hassleberry and Bastion guarding the door and Beauregard Nelson guarding the sliding door. If you have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, Bastion and Hassleberry will go with you and they will choose the stall. You will not be able to leave the school in the middle of the night, got it?" Sy demanded, his eyes flashing.

Zane had never seen his little brother quite like this, and it was…scary. So he nodded. "Okay, Sy, you win. I won't leave tonight and I'll do what you ask." Sy nodded and Zane got his pajamas on and climbed into bed. Once the older boy was asleep, Syrus came out of the room where his friends were waiting.

"Annie, Bastion…sorry," he apologized. The big girl hugged him.

"It's okay, Sy," she and Bastion said together.

"So…what's your plan?" Bastion asked as the group crowded around the smaller Ra.

"We'll meet here tomorrow, guys only, and we'll get him showered and cleaned up and then we'll all meet down at Slifer for breakfast. And then…I'm going to take a walk with him and we're going to have a talk about what's bothering him. And he's going to deal with this…I want my brother back…" Sy turned away for a second, trying to hide his tears, but failing. And then he felt the warmth of thin but wiry arms.

"Sy…we'll all help you. We want him back, too," Jaden said as he hugged the small Ra. "It's going to be okay." With that, Hassleberry and Bastion took up their positions at the door and, as Sy had requested, Beauregard Nelson, an aspiring card designer and also a rather bulky individual stood on guard at Zane's sliding door. The other kids not on guard duty went to their dorm rooms to sleep, but Syrus went down to Slifer to sleep in Jaden's room, carrying his treasured Mr. Fuzzy Bear. "You need him tonight, don't you, Sy?" Jaden asked as they climbed into their bunks.

"Yeah, Jay…I just hope this works," Sy answered softly. He lay awake for a while after Jaden fell asleep. _Please, God,_ he prayed in his head, _please help me help my brother…_

_And so, Syrus has decided that the gang must be tough on Zane in order to help him. Will this last-ditch effort work, or will it just make Zane worse? You'll have to tune in next time to find out! So read and review! Thank you!_


	8. Intervention

Chapter VIII: Intervention

_Welcome back to another chapter of "The Path to Redemption," everyone. I hope you all enjoyed having a much shorter wait this time around. The reason is because I have to catch up to events in "Summer Love, Summer Fears." So here's the latest chapter and I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for your reviews and for reading. Apologies to anyone who didn't like the streaking…Just remember that they did it under protest. And a huge thank you to my co-author, 15animefreak15 who co-wrote parts of this section with me some time ago. So she has full co-author credit for this chapter!_

_Last time, the guys streaked to cheer up Zane and only to do that, and they luckily missed detention and Sy got tough with Zane. The gang started intervention procedures and Sy went to bed hugging Mister Fuzzy Bear. So what will happen now? Read on and find out._

_**Disclaimers: Peach doesn't own the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise and doesn't own Violet and Rosa. Violet and Rosa belong to 15animefreak15, who co-wrote sections of this chapter. Peach would like to gratefully acknowledge her co-author, without whom this story would not be the same. She would also like to acknowledge various websites for their information on family interventions. She knows that this is not how interventions should normally go, but in the context of a bunch of teenagers doing it, she hopes it's okay. She also doesn't own Lucky Charms. Those are the property of General Mills. Thank you!**_

The next morning, several teenagers got up at Duel Academy, and three girls made their way down to Slifer to meet their friends for breakfast. "I hope this works," Annie said, looking back worriedly at the Ra dorms. "If it doesn't…it'll be bad for Sy and Zane…"

"Annie, relax. It'll be okay," Violet soothed, not wanting her best friend to freak out about this. "Give it a chance and it'll be all right!"

"Sí, Senorita Annie. We must have faith," Rosa added.

"Yeah…I just hope it'll be okay for them," Annie sighed again as they headed to Alexis's Slifer dorm.

"Hey, guys," the Queen of Obelisk Blue greeted with a worried expression. "So this is it. They're all up there, and Sy is going to wake him up. They're ready for this…I just hope this works. Zane…isn't Zane. And he needs something to get him back together…or I don't know what's going to happen." The other three girls looked at her and for her to have the worried expression on her face that she had now was the equivalent of Annie bursting into tears. In other words, Alexis was really upset. They all knew the rumors that had circulated through the school that maybe Alexis and Zane were a quiet item, but the girls had become so close that they knew Alexis loved Zane like a brother. "He…did so much for me while Atticus was away, and I have to be able to help him…"

"It'll work out, Alexis! I know it will!" Violet said enthusiastically as they headed down to the Slifer cafeteria to await the boys.

Meanwhile, Zane awoke to an angry Syrus standing next to his bed. "Syrus...what..?" he asked, confusion in his dark eyes as he woke up.

"ZANE GET OUT OF BED NOW!!" Sy shouted, dragging the sheets off of him.

"Syrus, what are you...!" the older boy yelped, feeling the cold air make contact with his skin.

"You're not going to stay in here and pout anymore! Guys!" Bastion, Chazz, Atticus and Jaden came into the room and dragged Zane bodily from the bed. "This is for your own good, bro!" Sy said.

"I'm terribly sorry, Zane, but he's right. We wouldn't be any sort of chums if we just let you stay as you are," Bastion apologized as he pulled the blankets away.

"C'mon, Zane, you need this!" Jaden grunted, shoving the former Obelisk Blue away from the bed.

"Yeah...I needed something like this, too!" Chazz added, holding the pillows.

"ARE YOU NUTS!" Zane yelled. "ATTICUS!!"

"Zane, as your best friend, I worry about you. And there's no way I'm going to miss out on an intervention!" Atticus said, grabbing his buddy. With that, the boys marched the ex-pro league duelist down to the Ra bathroom and stripped him. And then he was promptly shoved into the shower.

"AUGH! WHAT IS THIS?" Zane sputtered in shock.

"An intervention!" Jaden and Chazz yelled.

Atticus grinned, and turned on the shower...cold. "Sorry, Zaney. It couldn't be helped." However, anyone could see he was partly enjoying giving the serious boy a cold shower.

"SYRUS! WHAT THE HECK!" Zane shouted and sputtered again. He was furious and freezing and naked, and he wanted to know what was going on with his brother.

Syrus was standing in the bathroom doorway, arms crossed over his chest with a rare but serious look on his face. "Zane, I'm not gonna let you do this to yourself! And the first thing to do is wake you up."

"I'm awake. I'm AWAKE!" the older boy shouted. And only then did Atticus turn on the warm water. Zane got himself cleaned up and then staggered out of the shower.

"All right, Zane. Today you're joining us all down at Slifer, okay?" Jaden said.

"Why?"

"Because you need it! Right, guys?" Jaden asked, looking at his buddies.

"Right," Bastion said.

"Yup," Chazz agreed.

"So towel off and get dressed! We don't wanna miss breakfast," stated Atticus, tossing him a towel.

"Fine..." Zane growled. It took him only a few minutes to towel off and make himself presentable. And with his five escorts closing off all escape routes, he reluctantly went down to Slifer. He got in line and got a bowl of Lucky Charms.

"You like Lucky Charms, Zane?" Jaden asked in surprise when the older duelist sat down. "I like them too, but you…don't seem like a Lucky Charms kind of guy."

"Yeah…I like Lucky Charms," Zane said simply. He grudgingly ate breakfast with the gang and gave curt answers when he was spoken to.

As soon as the group was finished, Sy stood up. "Zane, we're going to go for a walk. Just you and me."

"Why?" Zane asked, trying to dig his heels in.

"Because I said," the blue-headed boy said firmly. "Zane, refusing me is not an option, understand?" Syrus had the look on his face that their mother wore when she was deadly serious. And something in that look made Syrus somehow more frightening to his older brother.

"Okay, okay, I'll go," Zane sighed.

And so, they stepped out into the cool morning air and headed up the path toward the woods. They walked in silence for several minutes until they were on a hill. Finally, Zane ventured to ask, "Okay, Sy...why are we going for a walk alone?" He stopped walking and Sy stopped with him.

Syrus sighed, and then pulled in a breath before looking his brother in the eyes. "Zane, I want you to answer one thing for me. Why did you start dueling in the first place?"

Zane thought for a minute, thinking back to the day he'd first assembled his deck. "I wanted to learn the game and have fun..."

Sy nodded. "Yeah, that's why we all started dueling. So, then, what happened with you, Zane? I mean, sure, you lost. But...did winning become so important that you forgot about why you started dueling in the first place?"

"I had contracts and endorsements, Sy! I was...in the Pro-Leagues!" Zane shook with…could it actually be fear and pain? "I...got afraid to duel..."

"Because you were afraid to lose your contractors and sponsors??" Syrus demanded, albeit gently.

"It was before that that it really started to take hold...Just after Aster..." Zane was shaking visibly. "Something in his deck...scared me..."

Syrus reached over and placed a hand on his brother's arm comfortingly. He wanted to understand, and for his brother to admit fear was a huge thing. "What was it, Zane?" he asked gently.

"Th-There was this one monster...wearing chains...it was as if all of someone's hatred and vengeance were in this monster...It was almost like the thing was pure evil..."

Syrus thought for a few moments, and then remembered the fearsome monster from Jaden's duel. "Oh, you mean Dreadmaster?"

Zane nodded, and sank to his knees, shivering. "It was so angry..." For a brief moment, he'd been able to sense the Destiny Hero Dreadmaster's emotional state and what he'd sensed terrified him.

This surprised Syrus; he'd never seen his brother this way. They were now about the same height, and Syrus embraced Zane in a brotherly hug. "Zane...maybe you should talk to Aster."

"How...how can I? I'm not strong enough anymore," Zane whispered in agony. "I can't win. And when I almost did, it would've cost me my soul."

Syrus squeezed his brother a little tighter, hating to see him this way. He'd always been the strong one, and now it was the other way around. "Zane, you...YOU ARE STRONG!!"

"I...I'm not..." Zane moaned. "I...Syrus...I'm shaking like a baby..." And indeed, Zane was shaking. What had happened with Aster had petrified Duel Academy's Kaiser into fearful submission. It had not, however, ruined his sense of right and wrong. "Sy...I thought...about dueling sheerly for power. I...turned away from it, but...I don't know if I can handle this fear anymore."

Syrus couldn't stand it anymore and abruptly pulled out of the hug. Half a second later, his hand connected with Zane's cheek in a slap. "Don't say that!"

Back at Slifer, the gang sat waiting. "Man, I hope Sy's okay. I mean…what if Zane gets really mad at him?" Jaden asked. He knew Zane loved Sy, but Zane wasn't himself.

"Jaden…maybe they'll actually talk for once," Alexis offered. "They used to talk…until he went to the Himalayas."

Atticus sighed. "Yeah…he changed after that. We had so much fun together, but after he came back from training, he was a lot more serious. He was still Zane but, he wasn't as much fun as he was before that."

Everyone was silent for a moment and then Chazz spoke up. "Maybe we should check on them. The squirt may need help."

"Help with what?" Aster Phoenix asked, entering the Slifer cafeteria. "Guys, what's up?"

Bastion quickly explained… "So we're going to check on things. We'll keep our distance and only move forward to them if they seem to really need us," he concluded. "Aster, with all due respect, this breakdown happened…"

"After my duel with him, I know," Aster finished for the Ra genius. "I can help, then…I owe it to Zane. He wasn't the one I was looking for." Perhaps the gang would've asked Aster about that, but something told them that they shouldn't. They knew he had issues in his past and when he was ready, he would tell them what was bugging him. "I'll go with…"

And so, after a short discussion, Jaden, Atticus, Bastion, Chazz and Aster headed out of the Slifer cafeteria and up the hill to meet Sy and Zane.

And as they walked, Syrus looked at his brother with horrified eyes. Zane kept shaking, even after his brother had slapped him. "I...Sy, I CAN'T!" the pro duelist howled seemingly from the depths of his soul.

"Can't what?" Aster Phoenix called out. He was heading up the hill toward the two brothers along with Jaden, Chazz, Atticus and Bastion. He was shocked to see his former opponent this badly shaken, and the other four boys were as shocked as he was. Aster asked again, "Can't what? Syrus, what's going on?"

Syrus turned away from his brother, his back to everyone else. His fists were clenched angrily at his sides while he glared at the dirt. At this moment, Syrus Aidan Truesdale felt that if his brother was this way, he wasn't ready to be saved. "Zane, I...I can't believe I used to envy you. That I used to...look up to you..." His angry words were edged with hurt as he walked…no, ran off into the forest.

Aster and the other boys looked on in horror, and something awoke in Zane. "I thought I couldn't talk to you, Aster, about what happened. But...Sy's just given me a reason to talk to you...and make me feel strong again," Zane said, and he got up off of his knees.

Aster regarded Zane for a moment. "Okay, then talk..."

"Just a second...Syrus?" Zane called. But Syrus had run into the woods and if he heard his brother, he gave no sign. Fortunately, though, the group of boys could still see him.

Without a word, Jaden tore into the woods. "SYRUS!! SYRUS, GET BACK HERE!!" he shouted, running toward the blue-headed boy. "SY! ZANE NEEDS YOU!"

Syrus stopped dead in his tracks, glancing back over his shoulder at the boy he considered to be his best friend. Fresh tears of mixed anger and hurt shone on his face, a hurricane of emotions occurring within him. "No he doesn't...He never did before and he doesn't now!" Sy yelped.

"Sy, he does," Jaden said, grabbing his surrogate little brother's shoulders. "He needs you. I think you snapped him out of it...Now get back there! C'mon!" the brunette said firmly.

Syrus stared up at Jaden, wanting to believe he was right. Finally, he sighed and wiped away the remaining tears with the sleeve of his yellow blazer. "All right...I'll go," he mumbled. The two turned around and made their way back to the path.

They walked back together and saw Zane and Aster talking a bit. "Syrus...I'm sorry for what happened with your brother. I was an idiot and he just told me how it fouled him up," Aster explained. Zane wordlessly held out his arms to his brother for a hug. Syrus looked from Aster to his brother, unsure for a long moment. He then smiled and accepted Zane's hug, glad that he'd somehow gotten his big brother back.

"Sy...you make me strong," Zane whispered then. "And...I'm going to go back to the pros, but I'm also going to duel for fun again. I don't say it enough, little brother, but I love you and you mean everything to me. I'm sorry I've put you through so much…" Tears ran down Zane's face as he held his baby brother close. "You just helped me…a heck of a lot more than I've helped you…"

"No…no, Zane…it's going to be okay. I'm sorry I said what I said. I still look up to you, and I still want to be a great duelist like you…And…I love you too." The two hugged tightly for a moment, both crying. And when they pulled away from each other, they were smiling through their tears. The other boys were a short distance away and doing a terrible job of hiding that they were moved by the scene. Finally, the group was able to pull themselves together and head back down to Slifer.

GXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGX

Tyson Schwarzkopf Hassleberry, known at this point to his friends and his girlfriend as Tyranno, but more often as Hassleberry, drummed his fingers on a table in the Slifer cafeteria as he sat with four nervous girls. He knew the Sarge had put him and Rosa in charge of this duty, to keep Privates Lexi, Annie and Violet from following them because it had to be the other guys that took care of this. _Private Truesdale wouldn't mind if Private Annie was up there, but his brother just might mind, especially if he lost his composure in front of the girls,_ he thought.

Meanwhile, Alexis was lost in her own thoughts. _Please, Zane, let them help you! Let Sy help you. Don't keep pushing us away, brother,_ she thought. _Please let him take the help,_ she prayed. It had hurt her to watch Zane the past two weeks as he'd pushed her and everyone else away. And now, as Zane's fate hung in the balance, all Alexis Harper Rhodes could do was watch.

Annie looked up at the door, also worried and praying under her breath. "Please, Father, help Sy…and open Zane's heart so it can be healed," she whispered. Violet, too, was meditating as she was Buddhist, praying that Zane would find his path back to enlightenment and peace.

The purple-headed girl looked at her best friend and touched her shoulder. "Annie, it'll be okay. It's got to be! I mean…we've worked so hard! It can't be for nothing," she said, knowing just how much the brown-haired, blue-eyed girl ached inside.

And then, the group of five heard…laughter? They each raced outside to see Jaden, Atticus, Chazz and Bastion heading down the hill followed by the Truesdale brothers, smiling and arm in arm.

_This isn't the end of the story, everyone. I will be writing one more chapter and that will be the end. So until I write that final chapter, please read and review! And tune in next time! Thank you!_


	9. Redemption

Chapter IX: Redemption

_And so we come to the close of Zane returning to himself in this version of the Yugi-verse. He has, thanks to his friends, his rival and most importantly, his brother, started to heal. So thank you, thank you, thank you, all of you who have supported and loved this tale and the universe that it's in. And now, the conclusion of "The Path to Redemption!"_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the actual Yugi-verse or any of its' characters; I just like playing in it. I also don't own Violet and Rosa; they belong to 15animefreak15. But I do own Annie Hanson and this story idea.**_

Nearly a week had passed since the morning of Zane Truesdale's intervention. His circle of friends had sat and listened as he'd told all that had occurred with him after he'd joined the Pro League. It had been hard to admit his fears and just how dark he'd almost gone to everyone. But no one had judged him harshly, and all of them had understood that he'd been in terrible pain. And he had to admit to them and himself that he'd found all his gang had done to support him through the pain had been pretty funny.

"So who came up with the Routine?" the older Truesdale brother asked as they all sat in Chazz Princeton's conversation pit in his dorm. "I haven't seen that done except on YouTube and on 'Friends' reruns."

"I did, Zane. And I can't believe you didn't laugh! And I sure as sugar can't believe you didn't laugh when Dr. C was lip-syncing 'Sweet Transvestite!' Everyone was laughing so hard!" Violet grinned, laughing with the memory.

"I wasn't ready to laugh," Zane admitted, laughing softly now, with his little brother sitting at his side. "But I feel like it now. If you guys hadn't stuck by me…I don't know what I would've done."

"Zane, bro, that's what we're all here for!" Jaden grinned. "You're our friend, and we stick by each other, especially when we're in trouble, man. So we'll all be glad you ditched the Underground and didn't choose to turn into Lord Voldemort!"

"Yeah, we're all glad about that," Alexis said, sweat-dropping and resolving to make Jaden take a break from reading the Harry Potter series for the second time. "So, Zane, what are you going to do now?"

Zane took a deep breath. "I've decided I'm going to stay here for a bit and let myself really recover and take the time to really reconnect with my brother. I didn't do that last school year when I was a student and maybe it's time I take advantage of that."

"Good idea, Zane. I don't think the teachers would object to you staying longer," Bastion said, smiling. "In fact, I daresay it will be a wonderful thing, between you and Aster, to tell those of us who may end up in the Pro Leagues what it actually is like."

"Hmm…guess I hadn't thought of that," Aster said thoughtfully, looking at his rival. "So, should we offer our experiences, Zane?"

Zane nodded in agreement. "Including that we can be friends outside the arena, and that we always treat our opponents honorably. I almost forgot that…I almost forgot a lot of things. So I guess we'll work together…"

Annie smiled silently. 'Thank You, Lord,' she prayed mentally, 'for giving Zane his life back and letting him be open to help. And Thank You for giving Sy his big brother back.' As she looked at her crush's brother, she knew things would be okay. Meanwhile, Hassleberry surreptitiously squeezed his girlfriend's hand and Rosa smiled back at him.

Syrus was happy that his brother had returned to him, and knew somehow that things between him and Zane would be very different now and better. 'You're going to be okay, big brother. I know you will be.'

The group got up after a time and headed out into the late fall sunshine. "Hey, Zane, want to play some soccer?" Atticus asked, holding up a black-and-white soccer ball.

Zane smiled. "You're on, Atticus! Aster, you in?"

"Yeah…let's do it!" the other Pro League member answered with a slight smile. And the boys and girls joined in a soccer game. As Zane ran, passing the ball around, he reveled in a feeling of freedom within himself. He knew that his journey to redeeming and renewing himself wasn't over, and he would be at Duel Academy for a while. The path to redemption was not an easy one, Zane reflected, but with his brother and his friends at his side, he knew he'd manage the journey.

**THE END**

_And so ends this tale of Zane choosing to follow a path in which he was not seduced by power. I hope you have enjoyed this tale and I thank my co-author in this version of the Yugi-verse, 15animefreak15, for allowing me to use Rosa and Violet. And of course, I thank you, all of you, who read and reviewed! Thank you very much!_


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